My Pennsy GP-9 makes grinding noises in both trucks when it's trying to climb hills and immediatly after - also I have heard a lot about this locomotives pulling power - but it barely handles 4 coal hoppers and a caboose.

When I look at the box - I see a sticker for an unpowered version that has been covered by a label for the powered engine. Could there be some loose connections, maybe this was a refit of a dummy loco? Thoughts - ideas - should I just send it into the shop for repair?

It's been run once - so this engine is fresh from the box - and has been lubricated.

It sounds like you've got a dummy and upgrade kit was added to. If so, it's possible the installation wasn't done properly, or you've got an older loco with a lot of miles on it.

A couple of things to check:

1. Remove the screws at each end of the loco and lift the shell off.

2. Check the inside of the shell for any rub marks from the flywheels sitting too high. This is an indication the motors weren't seated properly when installed.

3. With the chassis sitting on it's wheels, check that the motors are vertical relative to the chassis. If there's a tilt to either motor, again it's an indication they weren't properly installed.

4. Lay the loco on it's side and remove the screw on the bottom of one truck assembly. This will free the motor so it can be removed from the truck.

5. Set the loco upright, then remove the motor from the truck assembly. Rotating the flywheel counterclockwise helps it come free.

6. Check the worm on the motor shaft for any excessive wear.

7. Check the pit in the truck assembly the motor was in for any debris. If it's full of shiny brass bits, the worm wheel is shot and you need to contact Bachmann service/parts for new motor truck blocks.

8. If there's no debris, the motor probably wasn't mounted correctly, so it wasn't making good mesh with the worm wheel.

9. While you've got it apart, clean out any dirt in the gear pit with a cotton swab. Add some white lithium grease, available in small tubes at most hardware stores, or Red & Tacky if you've got it.

10. Wipe down the worm gear on the motor shaft, and reassemble. Keep the motor vertical, and be sure it seats completely into the truck assembly. Check everything moves freely when you rotate the flywheel clockwise by hand. Reinstall the mounting screw on the bottom of the truck assembly.

Like Len mentions in the re-assembly of the motors to trucks, make sure the top of the motor can spin freely after being inserted into the truck area and the wheels turn, the wheels will turn slowly.While you have the motors out try to lubricate the gears.

I did an upgrade kit on an F-7 and it was not that difficult to do, the worst was re-mounting of a plate near the motor, as I had to drill out the hole just a little to mount the powered unit.

If that was an older loco, at some point they changed from a 3.0mm to a 3.5mm screw on the newer upgrade kits. That's probably why you had to drill out the mounting deck.

Len

That was a Crown Edition engine with a Williams reproduction era power upgrade kit installed. So about one half of a mm would equal one sixty-fourth of an inch? I had to go up one drill bit size to mount the screws, otherwise everything went back together just right.

I have been in O gauge for a over 35 years and did many Lionel repairs so a Williams upgrade seemed like a piece of cake to do.

My Sd 90 heartiage unit makes the same noise on the rear truck like the gears free spin in the forward position but they don't in opposite postion so I don't know why it does that it grinds like crazy I tried using a different truck and it didn't work and the thing is is that the engine isn't a year old yet so I don't know why it would have problems so if u could tell me that would be great.

Thank you for your reply I figured it out...It turned out to be were the plastic disk that sits on top of were you screw the truck into the truck wasn't screwed in all the way so it was causing the motor to be loose and have play so the spline on the motor wasn't catching the gear in the truck.

I just upgraded a dummy F3 B unit with a power kit. I found the same issue. In fact, only one of the insulating flanged washers would fit into the truck where the red wire screws in fir pickup roller. I had to create my own washer to get this to work. This made an otherwise simple upgrade somewhat frustrating. But all ends well and my b unit is running fine.